FERRY DISASTER

Evening Star, Issue 19712, 12 November 1927, Page 11

FERRY DISASTER

SANK IN FEW SECONDS “LIKE ft KNIFE IH CHEESE" •The Australian mail to hand brings further particulars of the disaster when the Tahiti ran down and sank the'ferry Greycliffe in Sydney Harbor. Among the first people on land to become awaro of the tragedy were tho driver and passengers of a tram that had just left Taronga Park. The tram was jerked to a sudden halt about halt a minute after it had moved off. Ono of the passengers said: — “Tho driver of the tram had left his ( compartment and walked to the edge' of a rise above Athol. He pointed to mid-harbor. ‘ That boat ran down a ferry,’ he cried. ‘ I saw it all. She cut through her like a knife through cheese.’ “ Our eyes followed his pointing fin;er, and there we saw an oversea liner —which immediately we recognised as die Tahiti—slipping down harbor, and m her wake a cluster of broken timbers, black against the harbor’s grey waters, and-dozens'of- what we knew .oust be human forms. “Then, in the midst of the timbers ime a burst of flame—apparently from lie furnaces of the ferry. These conmued for several minutes, seemingly urning on the surface of the water, iusing clouds.of steam to rise. What • 'ony we helpless score or so ot men nd women, perched on that cliff above . shol endured! We could do nothing i aid the stricken people struggling in ' 10 water a few hundred yards from ■ i. A woman sobbed.” The driver of tho tram and one or i vo passengers who had been in the vent compartment had actually, wit- • ?ssed the collision, and they were lied with questions. “The Tahiti hit her ami she was <iwled right over, like that,” they said, with gestures to show how the Grey; ,iffe Had gone to its doom. “ I saw the bottom of the ferry as > lie went over,” said one of them. “ It .was all over in a flash,” said ; uother, CRUSHED TO PIECES THE FORCE OF THE IMPACT THE FERRY’S STEERING GEAR. .Mr J. S. Bithel, employed at Garden ' dand, and a resident of Watson’s Ray, tid that he was not among those who ■lieved that tho Greycliffe was cub in v!f. The impact was so severe, lie id, that the boat was crushed to ieces. He said he was sitting on the art side when ho saw tho Tahiti comg along at a fair speed—six or seven ciots, he thought. Suddenly the Greycliffe seemed to t off toward Bradley’s Hoad. It was ost unusual', and Mr Bithel came to j conclusion immediately that the ■ering gear had gone wrong. Ho ard the Tahiti give two blasts of the dstle, «md almost at once tho Greyufo was struck amidships. Just bero the crash he ran to tho other side the vessel, and when. the ferry ■ived over his leg was jammed bc?en the seat and part of the boat. Vs soon as Mr Bithel was released he s thrown into the wtaer, and went might down, almost to the bottom of • Jfarbpr it seemed to him. fie bled; “I turned 20 Catherine wheels, think. I did not know where I was • ng or what was happening to me. lien 1 came up I was dazed.. All .mud mo there was wreckage. I was ar to a buoy, but I did not have the rength to grasp it. 1 got into a sort coma, and the next thing I knew is that a lifebelt was thrown to mo .am a tug. With a supreme effort I asped this, and I was dragged on to ■3 vessel.

“The passengers who bad been uown into the water were even then attered all around, struggling and reaming. I don’t think that any •oplo in the cabins could have had any uuice. Tho boat sank, I am sure, in ') seconds. It was the most nerveracking experience I have over been 'trough, and I have been shipwrecked . ro or three times.” RUSH FOR LIFEBELTS MAN'S DRAMATIC STORY WIFE AND DAUGHTER LOST. A dramatic story of tho disaster was dated by Mr J. Corby, one of the sur- . rors, whoso wife and daughter lost . uir lives. Trembling violently, and ith bleeding face, the first words Air 1 irby uttered wheu he walked uu.•adily off the rescuing vessel to tho barf were: “Oh, God, my poor wife . id child: they have gone.” Mr Corby related what he know or •be tragedy, “I was taking my wife ad daughter, aged six years, to Watm’s Bay to spend4he afternoon,” ho ■id, “and as wo were sitting talking i the top deck of the Greycliffe we ard some women scream. On looking und I saw a big steamer almost on pof us. 1 sprang for some lifebelts. kI shouted to my wife to. rush down m gangway. I seized a lifebelt, and •s just making for the gangway to : n my wife and daughter when there ■s a terrific crash.

“ Our boat seemed to have been com- ■ 'itely splintered by the impact. I was '.mediately thrown into the water, and ent down with the anguishing screams women and children still ringing in ■y ears. My nest recollection was thax ■ felt myself coming toward the sur--Ime of tho water. I thought I would ■ver reach there, so long was it before v head appeared above the surface. “1 was surrounded by a mass of float--1 debris, and, clutching hold of some'■ing, looked about for my wife and '.■ild. Everywhere around me were nigglin'.’: women and girls, some with '■ c'ir faces horribly mutilated. What ippnned after that I do not know, a- the next I remembered was when 1 came round on the lorry steamer.”

CAUGHT IH THE VORTEX

MAN TWICE DRAGGED UNDER “SHE’S COMING ON TO OS.” Mr A. V. Keane, of Vaucluse, was one of the last of the Greycliffe’s pas--engers to bo picked up. He was in the water for nearly half an hour, and ■>n coming ashore was suffering' intensely, from exposure and shock. , Mr Keane said that the first warn- . ing he had-of the collision was someone shouting “She’s on us; she's coming straight on to ns.’’. A moment later the large steamer crashed into the Grcycliffe. and many of the passengers were precipitated into the water. Mr Keane said that he got into the water, and by that time the ferry steamer was commencing to sink. He was caught in the vortex, and the Greycliffo sank immediately. When she had settled down the roof of the ferry steamer was just below the water, and one of the ventilator c6wls was projecting above the water. Mr-Keane got above the water, aiul wh.da endeavoring to get dear of tiu»

vessel was dragged under a second time. He again kicked himself clear, and on coming to tho surface grasped a lifebelt. This ho tied round his body, and while waiting to bo rescued ho saw a woman in tho water a few yards away. He picked up another lifebelt and gave it to tho woman, and both of them were soon afterwards taken on board a launch.

TRAGIC SWIFTNESS EYE-WITNESS OF COLLISION Mr R. Iv. Angus, a recent arrival from Auckland, and son of Mr R. Angus, manager for Thos. Cook and Sons, was an eye witness of the accident. He was on board the first boat that went to the scone, and assisted in rescuing some of the survivors. “ I was returning to Sydney from tho Zoo,” said Mr Angus. “I noticed the Tahiti coming down tho harbor, and was interested because I had friends on board. Tbe Tahiti gave one blast. The next moment the f forr.v showed across her bow. . The Tahiti crashed into' tho ferry amidships, and pushed her for a short distance. Then she gradually heeled over and completely turned turtle. . “ Immediately tho bow of the Tahiti hecran to cut clean through the hull of the ferry. When about halfway down the waist of the Tahiti the half oi the ferry visible to me exploded. The Tahiti passed clean through the remaining wreck, leaving only a few survivors visible clinging to the wreckage. Our ferry reversed, and went toward the scene. On arrival the lifeboats were lowered, and’wo picked up several survivors, some of whom had been injured and were floating about in the water;

HOW THE FATES WORKED NAVAL MAN’S DEATH A CHANGE OF HABITS. The fates were ranged against Mr «W. E. Renton, ono of those who lost his life in tho disaster. He lived at Rose Bav, and was chief shipwright on H.M.A.S. Penguin. It was his invariable habit to travel from Garden Island to the Quay, and thence by tramcar to his home. But on the day of the tragedy, tor tho first time in 10 months, ho took the boat, intending to alight at Parsley Bay. . Mr Renton leaves a widow, sons aged 19 and 14 respectively, and a daughter aged 18. He had 22 years’ service m the Navy, and was a member of the boarding party of the Encounter, now tho Penguin, when sho captured tho Germnn»raidcr See Adler. There was a pathetic scene at the Water Police Station in tho evening when Mr Renton’s two sons called to inquire concerning the wreck. “ Is Mr W. E. Renton on the list ot injured?” said the younger of tho pair anxiously. , ~ r , . The sergeant perused both lists—injured and dead—and then looking sadly at the voting faces, tightly drawn, announced that the name figured on the list of the dead. . , “Oh, my God! Dad, Dad! And tho boy ran blindly from the station.

SCHOOLBOY’S PLUNGE CAUGHT IN WRECKAGE Jack Pfieffer, a Sydney Grammar School boy, was one of the few. passengers on the Greycliffe who anticipated the collision and jumped overboard before the actual impact occurred. He got clear of the ferry as she turned over and sank, and presently found himself clinging, to wreckage, some of which struck him so heavily that ho was stunned. However, ho managed to keep afloat, and was subsequently picked up by one of the rescuing parWhen Pfieffcr’s father was making anxious inquiries about his son he received a telephone message saying that Jack was dining at the Hotel Metropole! His companion, James Carruthers, was badly jammed between some floating spars while in the water.